FARMINGTON — A Wednesday evening Board of Selectmen’s meeting was filled with high emotions and tension as officials debated how to cut enough from the coming proposed budget to grant the smallest tax rate hike possible for residents.

Selectmen penny-pinched their way to minimize a budget they’d already reviewed and revised three or four times before.

Among many tough decisions, they opted to devise a merit-based system to determine town employees’ raises for the future, rather than grant an automatic 3 percent bump, and heard from the Goodwin Library board the facility’s hours may need to be shortened and some staff laid off to accommodate the “bare bones” proposal.

“We’re in a budget crisis,” Chairman Charlie King told members of the Farmington Public Library Association. “I mean, at this point, to even hold the tax rate, and even if we could level-fund, which is a decrease you don’t think you can stomach, we’re probably going to have to send people home.”

Before a “buyback” — where selectmen in years’ past have appropriated funds to buy against the total budget in an effort to lower residents’ taxes — Town Administrator Keith Trefethen said the town portion of the rate could go up 70 cents for every $1,000. King clarified with a Town Meeting review of proposed warrant articles this March, and the potential for a buyback, the increase could be much less, from anywhere between 25 cents to zero. He said that depends on money to be placed in the “undesignated fund balance.”

In 2012, the tax rate went up by just $1 to a total of $21 per $1,000 in Farmington. The town portion of that figure was set at $6.65 then and the local schools figure set at $9.87. The town of Farmington will host a deliberative session on the school’s warrant articles next Saturday, Feb. 9.

Wednesday, selectmen crammed to finalize budget recommendations before passing them off to the Budget Committee for this weekend’s hearing, to be held Saturday morning. Selectman Arthur Capello said he feared the current proposed budget wouldn’t meet the committee’s approval, with a pressing need for thousands more dollars to be cut.

In a public meeting with several department heads, including Police Chief Kevin Willey, Fire Chief Richard Fowler and Public Works Director Scott Hazelton, the group worked for almost four hours to decide on the most manageable cuts possible. Hazelton said he could postpone river maintenance to make a little more room, though he said some roads are in dire need of repair. At the same time, Fowler approved the reduction of the fire station’s maintenance and repairs budget by a couple thousand dollars even though he has numerous times reported the old structure is in shaky condition with cracks in the walls and foundation.

When the public library board protested their assigned budget — where they supply some funds but the town provides the majority, members explained — King pointed out every department is making sacrifices in this budget cycle.

In the end though, the board allowed the return of about $11,000 to the library budget to try to make things easier for them. Association member Debbie Christie thanked the board for their decision, which brought the library’s budget line to $281,117.

With their next decision to allow a merit-based raise system for town employees over a guaranteed 3 percent raise for all, Selectmen Jim Horgan and Joan Funk said they were staunchly opposed.

Funk said employees had been understanding in the past when the town needed to make cuts and Horgan argued they deserved it for their all their diligent efforts.

“The people are the most valuable resources we have in (the budget),” he said. “I don’t care how pretty your equipment is out there. It doesn’t work without the people.”

The board decided by majority to place enough funds for all employees to receive 2 percent raises, with department heads to decide, based on a system to be determined, who would be deserving of raises ranging from 1 to 3 percent.

King expressed his concern for the residents in the community, struggling with difficult economic times already, he said. He added, to keep the tax rate as low as it has been in previous years, the board may need to also consider personnel cuts.

“We’re currently trying to provide services we cannot afford,” he told the board. “Anyway you slice it, we’re giving the people at home a pay cut. We just gave a pay raise and everyone sitting at home is getting a pay cut to fund it and, … I am not OK with this, but I also understand the only way to get further in this budget is personnel cuts.”

By the end of the evening, the board voted 4-1 to move the budget forward as amended, with King in opposition.

“I think the board has done an extremely good job of working diligently to try to get it into a framework that they can support,” Trefethen said after meeting, noting this budget is still a “work in progress.”

The Budget Committee will review the selectmen’s proposed budget this Saturday at 9 a.m. in the Selectmen’s Chambers at 356 Main St. A town budget public hearing will be held on Friday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m. with a regular meeting scheduled for March 27 at 7 p.m. Officials stress the meetings are public and residents are encouraged to attend.